Highlander

I can't speak to what Highlander was like to watch when it originally came out in 1986. I can only speak to what it was like watching as a young kid who enjoyed all things sword related. It was awesome. Immortal beings running around having elaborate sword fights. What could be better to a kid raised on fantasy novels and movies? And it is that remembered awesomeness that inspired me to see it on a theater screen at a recent release at my local indie cinema. And so the question would become. Is the movie still awesome? The answer is yes but for different reasons.

Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is an immortal being, one of many who have lived through time and who participates in a game in which immortals battle each other claiming heads and gaining power. MacLeod has lived for four and a half centuries and now lives in New York. New York has become the location of a final battle between the very last of the immortals. Suspicion arises in the police that MacLeod is a serial killer. MacLeod negotiates dealing with the police, a curious forensics specialist with an expertise in metallurgy and the Kurgan (Clancy Brown) a psychopathic immortal with aims for MacLeod's head.

Sure it sounds a bit odd, perhaps a bit cheesy. And I will not deny that. So what in all the world could make me like this movie? Make me have a desire to sit here and praise it? Sure all the references are dated. The special effects look hokey. Yes the romance is forced and pretty much non existence. There are some questionable motivations for most of the characters and very big plot points seem complete ignored by movie end. Sounds pretty damning, right?

Well let's just see what this movie does have. All Queen Soundtrack. Now that might have some cringing in horror but come on. Once that opening credit sequence starts and Freddie Mercury kicks in with "Princes of the Universe" you pretty much either start nodding your head in approval of the campiness or no there is no or that is all you can do. You just smile and think o man this is going to be fun. Tie that in with the incredibly sappy "Who Wants To Live Forever" (He's immortal! He will live for ever!?) and you really can't go wrong.

What else you ask, unconvinced? Clancy "f*cking" Brown. I added the swear for emphasis because Clancy Brown is bad ass. He was Zim in Starship Troopers and basically played the devil on earth in "Carnivale". And he plays such a crazy over the top villain in this movie that you can't help but smile gleefully when he is on screen. He struts and chews scenery like nobody's business through out the movie. When he plays chicken on the New York streets? priceless. In the church? fantastically absurd.

Sean Connery as an immortal who trains MacLeod. He plays an Egyptian who serves the king of Spain but somehow manages to say everything in a Scottish accent. Go figure. Honestly people what more could you want from a cheesy enjoyable 80s film? It's not Oscar worthy but its definitely worth the viewing.